Jeremiah 39:7

_MOREOVER HE PUT OUT ZEDEKIAH'S EYES, AND BOUND HIM WITH CHAINS, TO CARRY HIM TO BABYLON._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

Here was an accumulation of misery: the king had his eyes pulled out, (117) after having been a spectator of the slaughter of his own sons! He then saw heaped together the dead bodies of his own offspring and of all his nobles. After that slaughter he was made blind. His life was, no doubt, prolonged to him, that he might die, as it were, by little and little, according to what a notorious tyrant has said. And thus Nebuchadnezzar intended to kill him a hundred and a thousand times, and not at once to put him to death, for death removes man from all the miseries of the present life. That Zedekiah remained alive, was then a much harder condition. And this has been recorded that we may know, that as he had been so long obstinate against God, the punishment inflicted on him was long protracted; for he had not sinned through levity or want of thought, or some hidden impulse, but hardened hims...

1-10 Jerusalem was so strong, that the inhabitants believed the enemy could never enter it. But sin provoked God to withdraw his protection, and then it was as weak as other cities. Zedekiah had his eyes put out; so he was condemned to darkness who had shut his eyes against the clear light of God's word. Those who will not believe God's words, will be convinced by the event. Observe the wonderful changes of Providence, how uncertain are earthly possessions; and see the just dealings of Providence: but whether the Lord makes men poor or rich, nothing will profit them while they cleave to their sins....

Verse Jeremiah 39:7. _BOUND HIM WITH CHAINS_] Margin: "Two brazen chains;" one for his hands, and the other for his feet....

Compare the marginal reference. The differences between the two accounts are slight....

EXPOSITION This chapter is very confused as it stands. To restore order it is absolutely necessary to suppose that some passages (viz. Jeremiah 39:1, Jeremiah 39:2, and Jeremiah 39:4) have been inserted by after thoughts. It is important to notice that the latter of these passages is omitted in the Septuagint. We need not go so far as to excise them altogether, but we must at any rate enclose them in parentheses. The chapter then becomes a narrative of the solemn session held by the Babylonian officers in the "middle gate," and the charge which they gave to Gedaliah to take Jeremiah under his protection. Verses 1, 2 appear to be taken from...

MOREOVER HE PUT OUT ZEDEKIAH'S EYES,.... By what means is not certain; however, hereby the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled, that his eyes should see the king of Babylon, as they did, before they were put out, and that he should not die by the sword, Jeremiah 34:3; and also the prophecy of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 12:13; that he should be brought to Babylon, and yet should not see it; for his eyes were put out before he was carried there: a full proof this of the prescience of God; of his foreknowledge of future and contingent events; of the truth and certainty of prophecy, and of the authority of divine revelation: AND BOUND HIM WITH CHAINS, TO CARRY HIM TO BABYLON; with two brass or iron chains, or fetters, for both his legs; and thus bound he was carried to Babylon, where he remained to

BABYLON Here began the "times of the Gentiles," the mark of which is that Jerusalem is "trodden down of the Gentiles," that is, Under Gentile overlordship. This has been true from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to this day. See "Times of the Gentiles" (_ See Scofield) - (Luke 21:24)._ (_ See Scofield) - (Revelation 16:19). _...

CHAPTER 39 _ 1. The fall of Jerusalem and the fate of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 39:1) _ 2. Nebuchadnezzar's kindness to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 39:10) 3. Ebed-melech's reward (Jeremiah 39:15) Jeremiah 39:1. The Word of God comes true; the prophecy of Jeremiah is vindicated! The mighty army of Nebuchadnezzar returned to the city; for many months the siege goes on under indescribable suffering. How horrible it must have been! Then the city fell and the victors rushed in; the work of slaughter and burning began. According to Jewish tradition it was on the ninth day of the month Ab. On the same date in

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM: JEREMIAH SPARED. This paragraph well illustrates the growth of the OT text; _cf._ 2 Kings 25:1 (also reproduced in Jeremiah 52:4, from which Jeremiah 39:1 f. and Jeremiah 39:4; Jeremiah 39:13 have been here interpolated. The former verses (Jeremiah 39:1 f., bracketed in RV) break the Hebrew connexion, and refer back to the time prior to the capture of the city; the latter ...